Bali police say tests show Australian teen didn’t have drugs

BALI, Indonesia – An Australian teenager detained on suspicion of drug possession in Indonesia will likely be released soon after tests showed he was carrying a painkiller and not illicit drugs, police said Wednesday.

Security staff allegedly found a small plastic package of white powder in Jamie Murphy’s bag while the teen was at a nightclub in the entertainment precinct of Kuta just after midnight Tuesday. The 18-year-old was celebrating with fellow graduates from their high school in the Australian west coast city of Perth.

“All drug tests against him came to be negative, so he should be released immediately,” Bali police chief Sugeng Priyanto said.

The powder was a paracetamol mixture and tests of his hair and urine were also negative for illicit drugs, said Koesnadi, the police forensic lab chief in Bali who goes by a single name. The paracetamol, which is also known as acetaminophen, was mixed with a second analgesic that the authorities did not name.

Murphy’s Indonesian lawyer, Dessi Widiantari, said the teen was throwing a tantrum when police tried to arrest him but has calmed down. She hopes Murphy could leave police detention on Thursday after legal documents are completed.

Widiantari said Murphy’s parents and Australian diplomats in Bali have made telephone contacts and will meet him on Thursday.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the case was a warning to thousands of Australian students and graduates who travel overseas to celebrate their graduations that they must abide by sometimes harsh local laws.

Australian Nicholas Langan, 26, was freed from a Bali prison in January after serving 12 months for sharing a marijuana cigarette on a beach.

A 14-year-old Australian boy, who was not named, was sentenced to two months in prison after he was arrested with 3.6 grams (0.13 of an ounce) of marijuana during a family vacation to Bali in 2011.

Indonesia has severe penalties for breaking its drug laws, and past executions of drug convicts have caused diplomatic tensions with Australia.